7/20 Red Sox in Chavez Ravine, LAD

[Maxbialystock]

Keeping Weissert in was a wonderful plan. It's games like this where I don't give a shite whether Cora stays or goes.

 

Meh. If we can fault Cora, it's for the top of the 11th when of course--with Bill James whispering in his ear--he didn't have Smith bunt the two Sox baserunners over to 2b and 3b. When the Dodgers came to bat in the bottom of the 11th, they had the leadoff batter attempt to bunt not once but twice--and moved the runner to 3b. And that was the ballgame.

 

In Cora's defense, his bullpen simply stinks. Jansen blew the save in the 9th and was lucky not to get the loss.

[Maxbialystock]

Going 2 for 14 with RISP is a recipe for a loss.

 

Sure is, but the Sox did score 6 tonight with 5 of them earned.

[moonslav59]

Not having Martin & Slaten is taking its toll.

[vegasbob]

Keeping Weissert in was a wonderful plan. It's games like this where I don't give a shite whether Cora stays or goes.

 

The 11th inning was pure surrender by leaving Weissert in, but there's a game to be played tomorrow.

 

One thing about the 11th, if the visiting team fails to score ( See Red Sox) then the home team has theoretically 6 outs to score one or more runs, with a man on second /no outs twice.. It's a bit lopsided in terms of win percentage.

[vegasbob]

I told you six weeks ago that Weissert sucks.

 

You were right then and still right now. Don't let the statmasters fool you. Like many , he can get 2 strikes on most hitters and usually 2 outs in an inning but he cannot close the deal in any inning. That's why he has blown 4 of 5 save opportunities.

[Old Red]

Meh. If we can fault Cora, it's for the top of the 11th when of course--with Bill James whispering in his ear--he didn't have Smith bunt the two Sox baserunners over to 2b and 3b. When the Dodgers came to bat in the bottom of the 11th, they had the leadoff batter attempt to bunt not once but twice--and moved the runner to 3b. And that was the ballgame.

 

In Cora's defense, his bullpen simply stinks. Jansen blew the save in the 9th and was lucky not to get the loss.

 

Wink tried to blow the game in the 8th, so right now there is no reliable late innings guy to go to. They need another arm out there NOW, and not wait until the end of the month. It sounds like Martin, and Slate won’t be ready anytime soon.

[Old Red]

SOX have gotten a lot out of Devers so far in this series. If he was on the Dodgers, he'd be their 4th best player.

 

Old friend Kike had 2 BIG hits tonight to haunt his former mates.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Wink tried to blow the game in the 8th, so right now there is no reliable late innings guy to go to. They need another arm out there NOW, and not wait until the end of the month. It sounds like Martin, and Slate won’t be ready anytime soon.

 

I noted this in the pregame. Nothing is more demoralizing than blowing a game at the end, especially when a team takes a late lead - twice.

 

Jansen was due to cough one up, Kelly and Bernie conspired to lose Friday, and Weissert was the white flag both nights. Wink doesn't look as confident as he was coming out of the pen last year (maybe because of conflicts with the new mound plan).

 

Breslow has a clear view of two lanes in front of him. Get in the left lane and peg it asap... or coast in the right lane and watch more driven rivals whiz right past him.

[Maxbialystock]

The 11th inning was pure surrender by leaving Weissert in, but there's a game to be played tomorrow.

 

One thing about the 11th, if the visiting team fails to score ( See Red Sox) then the home team has theoretically 6 outs to score one or more runs, with a man on second /no outs twice.. It's a bit lopsided in terms of win percentage.

 

Actually, in both games "pure surrender" was sending almost any Sox reliever to the mound. Bernardino was a complete disaster in game 1, and last night Jansen was actually more of a disaster than Weissert was. He needed to get three outs from the bottom of the Dodgers order and didn't come close.

[dgalehouse]

Getting those final outs to close a game is not easy. Everything is amped up. The best to ever do it, Mariano Rivera, blew some big saves in his Hall of Fame career. He said, " closers need to have a short memory". Jansen knows this. He will bounce back. Yes, the Sox need some bullpen help. So does just about every contender.

[Bellhorn04]

Getting those final outs to close a game is not easy. Everything is amped up. The best to ever do it, Mariano Rivera, blew some big saves in his Hall of Fame career. He said, " closers need to have a short memory". Jansen knows this. He will bounce back. Yes, the Sox need some bullpen help. So does just about every contender.

 

Jansen will bounce back. The real issues are Slaten and Martin being injured, Bernardino and Weissert pitching horribly etc. Our bullpen depth is gone.

[moonslav59]

You were right then and still right now. Don't let the statmasters fool you. Like many , he can get 2 strikes on most hitters and usually 2 outs in an inning but he cannot close the deal in any inning. That's why he has blown 4 of 5 save opportunities.

 

Starting the inning with a man on 2B does not make any RP'er's job easier.

 

That being said, he failed to get the job done, and it's not the first time. He has sucked, recently, but he did have a 1.96 ERA and 2.77 FIP after 24 games (out of his 42 total.)

 

When he is bad, he is bad.

30 games: 0 ERs (5 times for more than 1 IP)

7 games: 1 ER (twice in 2 IP)

3 games: 2 ER

2 games: 4 ER

 

(All 3 times, he pitched in extra innings, he has let the man on 2B score, and last night, others too.)

 

His total numbers are not great or even good, but they don't suck.

[dgalehouse]

Jansen will bounce back. The real issues are Slaten and Martin being injured, Bernardino and Weissert pitching horribly etc. Our bullpen depth is gone.

 

Bullpens are counted on more today than in the past. As the season goes on, they do tend to wear down. But that is not unique to the Sox. Every team has that issue.

[notin]

Actually, in both games "pure surrender" was sending almost any Sox reliever to the mound. Bernardino was a complete disaster in game 1, and last night Jansen was actually more of a disaster than Weissert was. He needed to get three outs from the bottom of the Dodgers order and didn't come close.

 

To be fair to Bernardino, that double by Ohtani wasn’t exactly struck hard. It was a well-placed bloop hit…

[Bellhorn04]

To be fair to Bernardino, that double by Ohtani wasn’t exactly struck hard. It was a well-placed bloop hit…

 

The real problem is he has basically sucked in June and July after being brilliant prior to that.

[5GoldGlovesOF,75]

Starting the inning with a man on 2B does not make any RP'er's job easier.

 

That being said, he failed to get the job done, and it's not the first time. He has sucked, recently, but he did have a 1.96 ERA and 2.77 FIP after 24 games (out of his 42 total.)

 

When he is bad, he is bad.

30 games: 0 ERs (5 times for more than 1 IP)

7 games: 1 ER (twice in 2 IP)

3 games: 2 ER

2 games: 4 ER

 

(All 3 times, he pitched in extra innings, he has let the man on 2B score, and last night, others too.)

 

His total numbers are not great or even good, but they don't suck.

 

Don't forget, if you allow a Ghost Runner to score, it does not count as an earned run. But it could count as an L...

 

... and no manager should ever call on you when there's a problem with ectoplasmic entities, especially vs. the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man.

[notin]

The real problem is he has basically sucked in June and July after being brilliant prior to that.

 

His June wasn’t that bad. If you like ERA, a 2.57 for the month.

 

And he has only allowed runs in 4 of 14 appearances in that stretch. But he is showing signs of fatigue…

[moonslav59]

Bullpens are counted on more today than in the past. As the season goes on, they do tend to wear down. But that is not unique to the Sox. Every team has that issue.

 

True. We have had worse years for pen injuries. We even started the year with Jansen and Martin missing most of the end to ST'ing.

 

We've used 17 RP'ers, not counting Reyes and DSmith's mop up games. That's not a whole lot for a 13 man pen.

 

Only 8 have gone 24+ IP. It's not uncommon for the RP'ers with the most IP to be the low leverage ones, and with the Sox, that is true:

 

IP rank: (OPS Against)

1. Anderson .621

2. Weissert .804

6. Booser .619 (started the season in AAA)

9. Winckowski .764 (was demoted to AAA, at one point.)

10. Keller .702

11. Joely .875

12. Horn .670

13. I Campbell 1.175

 

The Core 5:

.569 Jansen

.579 Slaten (IL)

.682 Martin (IL)

.549 Kelly

.674 Bernardino

 

 

8 our our top 13 pitchers are sketchy, and 2 of the others are on the IL, yet we rank as follows as a pen:

T4 fWAR 3.8

4th in K/BB at 3.1

9th xFIP- 96

11th xFIP 3.93

7th ERA- 88

12th ERA 3.75 (10th SIERA 3.61)

12th in WHIP at 1.25

21st in BAbip at .294 (poor D behind them)

[FredLynn]

The Dodgers lead the NL West by 7 games and have been especially good in Dodger Stadium.

 

The Sox had the lead going into the 8th inning in game 1 and in the 7th thru 10th innings in game 2. With a decent bullpen, they win both games.

 

You don't know squat about these Sox and you certainly aren't a fan. Your moniker--Fred Lynn--reminds us of what losers the Sox were for 86 years.

 

Yup. The Dodgers are by far a superior team, even without Betts and Kershaw.

Leading going into the 8th inning means ZILCH. Coulda woulda shoulda.

I know what I see in this team. If you paid attention you would see the same thing: a team not quite ready for prime time though they have played over their heads for the first half of the season or so. This still is not a playoff team as currently constructed.

[d-money]

Yup. The Dodgers are by far a superior team, even without Betts and Kershaw.

Leading going into the 8th inning means ZILCH. Coulda woulda shoulda.

I know what I see in this team. If you paid attention you would see the same thing: a team not quite ready for prime time though they have played over their heads for the first half of the season or so. This still is not a playoff team as currently constructed.

 

The dodgers have been fortunate. Dodgers to me have been meh all year. They had been 3-7 in their last 10 games. I know they have had injuries but it wouldn’t surprise me if they flop once again in October.

[dgalehouse]

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. On the road , in extra innings, if you don't at least score your ghost runner, you are in a very precarious position. The home team will play for one run to walk it off.

[d-money]

Have wasted opportunities to creep closer to the first wildcard spot.

[Bellhorn04]

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway. On the road , in extra innings, if you don't at least score your ghost runner, you are in a very precarious position. The home team will play for one run to walk it off.

 

Yeah, I think scoring 1 run with the ghost runner is basically average at best. You need to score at least 2. Even that may not do it as we have seen. There are going to be a lot of runs scored in these Manfred innings, one reason being that teams are often down to their crappier relievers.

[Bellhorn04]

Have wasted opportunities to creep closer to the first wildcard spot.

 

I think all any of us really care about is the last wildcard spot. It's pretty much as good as the first wildcard spot.

[dgalehouse]

Yeah, I think scoring 1 run with the ghost runner is basically average at best. You need to score at least 2. Even that may not do it as we have seen. There are going to be a lot of runs scored in these Manfred innings, one reason being that teams are often down to their crappier relievers.

 

Personally, I would rather have the occasional 18 inning game than have the ghost runner rule. I don't like it one bit.

[notin]

I think all any of us really care about is the last wildcard spot. It's pretty much as good as the first wildcard spot.

 

Doesn’t the first wild card host a 3 game series? Just like the worst division winner?

[notin]

Personally, I would rather have the occasional 18 inning game than have the ghost runner rule. I don't like it one bit.

 

I don’t like it either. But it does do exactly what they wanted. MLB knows fans aren’t wild about it, which is why they don’t use it in the postseason…

[Bellhorn04]

Personally, I would rather have the occasional 18 inning game than have the ghost runner rule. I don't like it one bit.

 

I don't blame you. I don't like it but I understand it from one perspective - pitchers are getting injured enough as it is.

[Bellhorn04]

Doesn’t the first wild card host a 3 game series? Just like the worst division winner?

 

I think you're right. Not sure that's a big difference-maker though. Would be interesting to see what the results have been, small sample though it would be.

[notin]

Personally, I would rather have the occasional 18 inning game than have the ghost runner rule. I don't like it one bit.

 

MLB is a bit hypocritical about this. Merely putting runners on base gives hitters chances to break RBI records with greater ease. But adding more games for a home run record created this whole decades-long controversy…